An incredible meeting of two massive Chicago talents – with
results that are even more amazing than you might think! We've always loved the
music of flute player Nicole Mitchell – and have reveled in watching her get
even more righteous and sophisticated in her projects in recent years – and
we've always had deep respect for the words and wisdom of Haki Madhubuti, a
writer who makes us incredibly proud to live in the Windy City. Yet together,
these two genius talents resonate with even more strength than we might ever
have imagined – as Nicole turns in some of her deepest music in years, to set
up the right kind of setting for Haki's words – all served up in a mixture of
jazz and spoken passages that almost blows away most classics of this nature
from the 70s! The group is wonderful – with Mitchell on flute, alongside Pharez
Whitted on trumpet, Tomeka Reid on cello, Harrison Bankhead on drums, Renee
Baker and Zara Zaharieva on violins, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, and Jovia
Armstrong – and singer Ugochi provides additional vocal support for Madhubuti's
spoken lead – as the group also soars out on some strong instrumental passages too.
The scope of Mitchell's writing is even broader than before – and titles
include "Rise Vision", "Move Into Our Own", "Gwendolyn
Brooks", "Often Hard To Believe", "Woman Black",
"We Walk The Way Of The New World", "Peace Starts Inside
You", "Blackman Unfinished", and "Too Many Of Our
Young". ~ Dusty Groove
TINKR'S
CLASSY, GREASY, JAZZY, FUNKY, OLE AZZ BOOGA BAND - BLENDED
When Jan
Gaye, Marvin’s widow, heard Tinkr Barfield’s gritty, rockin’ gospel-jazz
rendition of one of the Motown legend’s classics, she said, “Job well done,
Tinkr Barfield.” Pop, funk and urban jazz fans everywhere will heap that kind
of praise for the whole set list that Luther Vandross’ former bassist puts
together on BLENDED, the eminently funky, richly eclectic debut from Tinkr’s
Classy, Greasy, Jazzy, Funky, Ole Azz Booga Band. Working Quincy Jones-style
with a massive all-star cast of studio and touring musicians and singers, Tinkr
embodies all those adjectives and more (symphonic, brassy, electronica-based,
etc.) on a mix of vibrant, rhythmically diverse originals and sly re-imaginings
of classics by Dave Brubeck, The Beatles and Rogers & Hammerstein. True to
its title, BLENDED’s got something for everyone’s classy, greasy, jazzy, funky,
ole azz booga musical fantasies.~ www.smoothjazz.com
MENAGERIE - THE ARROW OF TIME
Deep sounds
from Menagerie – a group led by funky genius Lance Ferguson, who's given us
wonderful work in a variety of styles over the years – but who here has turned
his talents to the world of spiritual jazz, which he takes on brilliantly with
this excellent ensemble! Menagerie have a classic vibe that really lives up to
the cover of the record – a style that's in that post-Coltrane moment when jazz
groups were getting even more sophisticated with both their performance and
sense of composition – really pushing the boundaries with new ideas, and a much
larger vision in jazz. Lance plays guitar in the group, but the fuller energy
comes from the tenor, alto, and soprano sax of Phillip Noy, as well as the
trumpet of Ross Irwin, and use of piano and Fender Rhodes by Mark Fitzgibbon –
all excellent players who can really hit the right sort of crescendo in spirit!
The leadoff track has some great vocals, and all others are instrumental – nice
and long, and very deep – with titles that include "Evolution",
"The Arrow Of Time", "Escape Velocity", "Spiral",
and "Nova". ~ Dusty
Groove
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